B L U E - W H I T E G A M E P R E V I E W
lot of people were wondering
how Penn State would respond
last October after suffering a
heartbreaking loss to Ohio State that had
done major damage to the team's Col-
lege Football Playoff bid. But when the
offense took the field for the first time in
their
next game, against Michigan State,
it seemed the Nittany Lions were going
to respond just fine. First came a 4-yard
rush by Trace McSorley, then a 23-yard
completion to K.J. Hamler, followed by a
7-yard run by Miles Sanders and another
completion, this one to Brandon Polk,
for 13 more yards. Pretty soon, the Lions
had a first-and-10 at the Spartans' 33-
yard line.
And then, in an instant, everything
thudded to a halt. With McSorley weav-
ing through traffic as he stepped up in
the pocket, safety Khari Willis slammed
into
him from the right side and jarred
the ball loose before he could get off a
pass. Michigan State's Tyriq Thompson
gathered up the fumble, and the drive
ended without points.
As it turned out, the Lions could have
used those points in the fourth quarter,
as Michigan State pulled off some late-
game heroics en route to a 21-17 victory.
Those plays at the end, notably a 25-
yard touchdown catch by Felton Davis,
were all anyone wanted to talk about fol-
lowing the game, but the early fumble
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